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Fermentation Atlas

Meat from Italy

Lucanica di Picerno IGPLucanica di Picerno

Medium-coarse pork from heavy pigs is seasoned with salt, chilli, black pepper and wild fennel seed, rested cold and stuffed into natural casing. It drains, dries for 3–7 days and matures for at least 18 days, hung so it takes its U shape. Made in 6 steps over 21 days – 26 days. The longest step, mature, hung in a U, takes at least 18 days (Disciplinare di produzione della IGP Lucanica…) and runs at 13–18 °C (Disciplinare di produzione della IGP Lucanica…). Salt is 2–2.5 % (Disciplinare di produzione della IGP Lucanica…). Lactobacillus sakei does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 18 daysSet[disc2017]Mature, hung in a U
Temperature13–18 °CSet[disc2017]Mature, hung in a U
Salt2–2.5 %Set[disc2017]Season and rest cold
AciditypH 4.8–5.3Set[disc2017]Dry
Fully documentedMeat21 days – 26 daysPGI (IGP), Reg. (EU) 2018/1615More meatMore from Italy

Recipe

Amounts from a sourcePercentages of the total weight of the meat mix, as fixed by the product specification.
2.0–2.5 % of the mixSalt[disc2017]
0.1–0.15 %Mild or hot chilli (Capsicum annuum)[disc2017]
0.13–0.18 %Wild fennel seed (Foeniculum vulgare) · The old household recipe used about a hundred seeds per kilo[disc2017]
0.05–0.1 %Black pepper[disc2017]
Up to 0.5 %Dextrose and sucrose[disc2017]
Up to 0.10 g/kgPotassium nitrate (E252), with sodium nitrite (E250) and up to 0.1 % ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate allowed[disc2017]
Microbial starter cultures (optional)[disc2017]
Starterspontaneous or defined culture (starters allowed by the specification)

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days – 26 days

Start
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What changes: Trimmed pork is minced medium-coarse

Step 1 of 6
Trim and mince medium-coarse
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus sakei
Pediococcus pentosaceus

Soft fat, nerves and connective tissue are cut away first. Output: medium-coarse mince.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Wild fennel seed must be the strongest aroma, ahead of pepper and chilli, and the sausage is hung on racks so it matures in a U shape. Its drying ends at a set pH of 4.8–5.3 and its maturing at water activity 0.88 or lower.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Piccante (spicy)More chilli, though wild fennel must still lead.
  • Slicing formatUp to 1.2 kg and 40–70 cm long.

Safety

The specification ends drying at pH 4.8–5.3 and maturing at water activity no higher than 0.88, and allows nitrate and nitrite only within set limits.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Roman writers including Varro, Martial, Apicius and Cicero used "lucanica" for a sausage from Lucania. A first small salumificio opened in Picerno in the early 1970s. The PGI was registered in October 2018 and amended in 2025, changing only pig weights and feed.

  1. [disc2017] Disciplinare di produzione della IGP Lucanica di Picerno (5.6.2017), Ministero delle politiche agricole, alimentari e forestali, copy hosted by the Basilicata Chamber of Commercespec
  2. [sd2018] Single document 'Lucanica di Picerno', EU No PGI-IT-02313, Official Journal of the European Union C 153, 2.5.2018, p. 15spec
  3. [am2025] Communication of approval of a standard amendment, Lucanica di Picerno, Official Journal C, C/2025/5170, 23.9.2025spec
  4. [bonomo2008] Bonomo M.G., Ricciardi A., Zotta T., Parente E., Salzano G. 2008, Molecular and technological characterization of lactic acid bacteria from traditional fermented sausages of Basilicata region (Southern Italy), Meat Science (abstract)paper
  5. [qualigeo] Qualigeo, Lucanica di Picerno IGPweb